Book royalty calculator

eBook, paperback and audiobook: what you keep from every copy after tax, printing and delivery, and how many copies you need to reach your goal.

eBook: yours per copy

$3.28

paperback $3.79 · audiobook $7.50

eBook at 70%
Paperback at 60%, minus $4.00 printing
Audiobook at 50%

At $4.99, an eBook leaves you $3.28: 70% of the price, after $0.30 for delivery. At $12.99, a paperback leaves you $3.79: 60% of the list price, minus $4.00 for printing. At $15, an audiobook leaves you $7.50.

To earn $1,000, you need 305 eBooks, or 264 paperbacks, or 134 audiobooks.

Out of every 100 in eBook sales

You$6666%
The store$2828%
Delivery$66%

I’m not an accountant or a financial advisor. This is an estimate, for information only. Check with a professional before you decide.

Your numbers

example: change the numbers

Currency

This changes the symbol and the examples. It does not convert your numbers.

eBook list price

The price readers see. On KDP, 70% royalties need a price inside your store’s band (on Amazon.com, $2.99 to $12.99) and at least 20% below the paperback; otherwise the calculator uses 35%.

eBook file size

At 70%, KDP subtracts a delivery cost for every MB: 15¢ on Amazon.com, 10p on Amazon.co.uk, 12 euro cents in the euro stores. There’s no delivery cost at 35%.

VAT or GST inside the eBook price

In the EU, the UK and Australia the price readers see includes VAT or GST, and it comes off before your royalty. KDP lists 7% for Germany, 5.5% for France, 4% for Spain, 0% for the UK and 10% GST for Australia; in Italy 4% with an ISBN and 22% without. In the US, there’s no VAT to take out, so enter 0.

Paperback list price

The list price you set, before any VAT or GST the store adds. At or above your store’s threshold ($9.99 on Amazon.com), the royalty is 60%; below it, 50%. No paperback? Enter 0.

Paperback page count

Printing costs depend on the page count and the ink.

Ink

Black inkStandard colorPremium color

Audiobook price, before tax

What a listener pays, excluding sales tax, VAT or GST. On Audible, the retailer sets the price, mostly by length: for 5 to 10 hours, it has ranged from $11.15 to $20.65. No audiobook? Enter 0.

Audiobook royalty rate

It depends on the platform and the deal. ACX, which distributes to Audible, publishes 50% for exclusive distribution and 30% for non-exclusive. ACX is open to residents of the US, the UK, Canada and Ireland.

How much you want to earn

To see how many copies of each format it takes.

Show the detailsHide the details

Format by format
Format	Price	Royalty rate	Costs per copy	Yours per copy	Copies for $1,000
eBook	$4.99	70%	$0.30 delivery	$3.28	305
Paperback	$12.99	60%	$4.00 printing, 250 pages	$3.79	264
Audiobook	$15	50%	none	$7.50	134

How it works

eBook: any VAT or GST inside the price comes off first (for 10%, divide by 1.10). At 70%, the delivery cost comes off too: the file size times your store’s rate per MB. The royalty rate applies to the rest. It’s KDP’s own formula: 0.70 × (€1.99 − €0.08 VAT − €0.10 delivery) = €1.27.
Paperback: the royalty rate times the list price, minus printing. Printing is a fixed cost plus a cost per page: in black ink on Amazon.com, $1.00 plus $0.012 a page, and only $2.30 for books up to 110 pages.
Audiobook: the royalty rate times what the listener paid, before tax. Listens paid through memberships and credits work differently, so this counts single sales only.
Copies for your goal: the goal divided by what you keep per copy, rounded up.

Worked example

A $4.99 eBook: minus $0.30 delivery for 2 MB, 70% of $4.69 is $3.28. A $12.99 paperback with 250 black-ink pages: printing is $1.00 + 250 × $0.012 = $4.00, and 60% of $12.99 is $7.79, so you keep $3.79. A $15 audiobook at 50%: $7.50. To earn $1,000, you need 305 eBooks, or 264 paperbacks, or 134 audiobooks.

Sources

Text checked on September 30, 2026

Good to know

These are the rules KDP and ACX published as of September 30, 2026, and they change: on Amazon.com the top of the 70% eBook band went from $9.99 to $12.99 on July 7, 2026, but books already priced keep their price and royalty option until you change them. Other platforms pay in other ways, which is why the audiobook rate is yours to set.
KDP pays 70% on eBooks only for sales in its list of 70% countries, which includes the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and most of Western Europe; other sales earn 35%.
Reads through subscriptions, like Kindle Unlimited for eBooks or Audible credits for audiobooks, aren’t paid per copy: they come from a fund or from the value of the membership. They aren’t in this calculation.
These are gross earnings: you’ll still owe income tax on them, and the store takes out any VAT or GST based on where the reader lives.
Printing costs are for the regular trim size; large trims cost more per page.

Frequently asked questions

How much do authors make per book on Amazon?

It depends on the format and the price. With KDP’s rules on Amazon.com, a $4.99 eBook at 70% leaves you $3.28, and a $12.99 paperback with 250 black-ink pages leaves you $3.79. Change the prices and page count above to see how they move.

When do I get 70% on an eBook?

When the list price sits inside your store’s band ($2.99 to $12.99 on Amazon.com), the eBook costs at least 20% less than the paperback, and the reader lives in one of KDP’s 70% countries. At 70%, you also pay delivery, 15¢ per MB on Amazon.com. Outside those rules, the royalty is 35%, with no delivery cost.

How much does it cost to print a book with KDP?

A fixed cost plus a cost per page. In black ink on Amazon.com, it’s $1.00 plus $0.012 a page, so 250 pages cost $4.00; books up to 110 pages pay only a flat $2.30. Color costs more: standard color is $0.0255 a page, for 72 to 600 pages.

How many books do I need to sell to make $1,000?

Your goal divided by what you keep per copy. With the example numbers: 305 eBooks at $4.99, or 264 paperbacks at $12.99, or 134 audiobooks at $15.

How do audiobook royalties work on ACX?

ACX, which distributes to Audible, Amazon and Apple, pays 50% for exclusive distribution and 30% for non-exclusive under the new model that opened on May 26, 2026; the old model, which ends at the end of 2026, paid 40% and 25%. Audible sets the retail price, mostly by length. ACX is open to residents of the US, the UK, Canada and Ireland.